2008 Upper Deck Timelines blaster

13122008

I’ve had one of these in the closet to be an interlude for all the hockey that was coming your way. So far, the hockey boxes have been a slow go. So I bought another one because I really like the 92 Upper Deck Minor League Votto card. Stupid to bust a blaster for one card, I know. But I’ve seen some praise on other blogs for this stuff, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. My gut told me to turn away, but I plunked down the cash and brought it home anyway.

I should have gone with the gut.

Before I get started, though, I have to ask this up front: Are the base cards supposed to have a little splotch on the left side? Is that part of the design? I’ll reference it again later, but I want to know and don’t want the question passed over mid break.

Here’s a subset I like more in person than I did in pictures. Initial photos just made me think it was a goofy design, but it works in person for some reason. Two Reds are featured in this part of the set (Votto and Volquez), so I’ll add them to my “hope to pull” list.

AAAARRGHHH! Why don’t I listen to myself and avoid Upper Deck stuff. This is absolutely ridiculous. Bent corners, I can understand. It’s people at the store treating them less than gingerly. But printer’s creases? You’ve got to be frickin’ kidding me. This better not happen in another pack.

The Griffey and the ’92 design cancel out the printer’s creases. But now I’m begining to notice an odd blotch on the borders of the base cards. As if they were hit with a single shot of spray paint. Is this part of the design, or are things going worse than I thought?

So there you go. Almost half the cards I pulled from this blaster are damaged in one way or another. The other half of the base cards (the first 100) have that odd splotch on the side. Please tell me that’s part of the design and not another flaw. Please.

Either way, I’m afraid to touch the other blaster I have of this stuff.

I will say that I remember those printer creases mostly from 93/94 Upper Deck hockey. I guess in a sense, Upper Deck really captured the flavor of those earlier releases in these cards for me. Plus there’s a flippin’ duplicate in the 56 cards I actually pull when the set is 360 cards long.

It’s too bad. I still don’t get the point of this set, but the cards look nicer than I gave them credit for and I can see how this would have been a fun break were it not for all the carnage. Upper Deck made some wise choices to mimic from their past.

Would I chase the set, though? No. I don’t see the point of this release. I’m wondering if this set is benefitting from the fact that Topps latest release is the almost boring U & H, and they have nothing else coming that isn’t high end. If you want something new to break, this is one of your only options that’s cheap and widely available.

I saw earlier a hobby box of this stuff for around $40 dollars. If you are interested in this one, save up for the hobby box instead. The hit ratios are better for the subsets, and you’ll get a ton more cards then you will be cobbling together two blasters.

[…] 16 12 2008 When I was at the big box store the other day for some more padded envelopes, and that ill-fated Timeline blaster, I grabbed one of the 80 card “Mega Value Packs!” that dayf had blogged about before. […]